"Ah Chong, what are you thinking?"
Seeing Gu Zhong look up at her stubbornly, with even a hint of pleading in his eyes, Ling Yan couldn't help but soften her tone.
"Master, I do not wish to be anyone's substitute."
With no one around, Gu Zhong finally revealed his true feelings.
"You were never anyone's substitute!"
Lingyan retorted somewhat angrily.
"If that's the case, then who is that person?"
Gu Zhong felt that he had made great progress, as he even dared to question his master.
"She is you, and you are her."
Even though she felt awkward inside, Lingyan still said those words against her will. In fact, she herself couldn't figure out how to calculate the two.
"Does Master mean reincarnation?"
The truth was somewhat different from what he had thought, and Gu Zhong's distress subsided considerably.
You can understand it that way.
Individuals formed from fragments of the soul are almost indistinguishable from reincarnations.
“But Master, even if it is a reincarnation, it is not the same person at all... The person you hope to see is always the original person, even if it is just a remnant of her will.”
Even if it's not a substitute, it's not much better than this. It's still a vessel for longing, and the person who gets recognition is never this version of myself in this life, nor the version of myself now.
"I···"
Ling Yan could no longer utter a single word; she had no way to deny Gu Zhong's words.
After a long silence, she slowly uttered another sentence that seemed to be an attempt to salvage the situation.
"But Ah Chong, you are just as important."
"Master...please let me go..."
Gu Zhong didn't believe it, but she didn't continue to question him or show it. She just pleaded bitterly.
"···good."
Closing her eyes, Lingyan ultimately couldn't bear to see her begging and pleading any longer, and reluctantly uttered a word of agreement.
"Thank you... Immortal Master."
Returning to the original title signifies the end of this brief master-disciple relationship.
"To outsiders, you are still a disciple of my Star Luo Sect, my only disciple."
Ultimately, fearing that the Shangyinmen and Qingshuimen would cause trouble for Gu Zhong, Lingyan declared that she would not sever this nominal relationship.
"No need..."
Gu Zhong was somewhat resistant, as if even in name only, it was still a shackle for her.
"This won't be a constraint on you. To the outside world, I'll say you've gone to the mortal realm for training. After that, you can go wherever you want... Just for my sake, protect yourself, okay?"
In the end, Lingyan's tone inevitably carried a hint of pleading.
Gu Zhong had no choice but to agree, thus preserving the nominal master-disciple relationship in name only.
She stood up, released the hilt of Yanyun's sword, gave Lingyan a deep look, and then strode out without looking back.
Even though the sword trembled and let out a mournful cry of reluctance, and even though she knew how heartbroken Lingyan would be if she did this, she still resolutely chose to leave.
Without trying to stop Gu Zhong, Ling Yan didn't even turn around to look at her departing figure. She just stared blankly at the stone tablet on the jade platform that had lost its luster, gently stroking the spine of Yan Yun's sword to soothe it.
—This is only a temporary separation. When you've thought it through...and when I've thought it through, we'll meet again.
——
Time flies like an arrow; it passes in the blink of an eye.
In the blink of an eye, ten years have passed.
When the various immortal sects joined forces to explore the Heavenly Thunder Secret Realm, they all suffered heavy losses.
However, the demon race showed no intention of giving the immortal sects a chance to recuperate and thrive. In recent years, they have been making frequent and increasingly rampant moves.
"What? Is Lord Xingxuan still in seclusion?"
A lazy yet undeniable voice drifted over, causing the servants guarding the cave entrance to shiver involuntarily.
"Yes, Elder Xia."
He secretly glanced at the woman in front of him. Today, she was dressed in a black robe, and Elder Xia seemed a bit more serious and solemn.
That stunningly beautiful face, always bearing a smile that's hard to tell if it's genuine or fake, often leads people to mistake her for a good-natured but ultimately unattractive woman.
"Really? I wonder what cultivation methods she can figure out during this ten-year seclusion."
After gently asking and answering her own questions, Xia Xiange's actions were quite brutal. She raised her palm and unleashed a burst of star power, blasting it mercilessly towards Lingyan's cave entrance.
Elder Xia!
The gatekeeper was so frightened that he immediately covered his head and ran away. Elder Xia's temper was as unpredictable and capricious as ever.
"Is Elder Xia going a bit too far with this invitation?"
A defensive array covered the cave, neutralizing the attack.
Lingyan's displeased voice came from inside.
"The young sect leader's cultivation has improved again; this is truly a cause for celebration."
Xia Xiange withdrew her hand and looked at it, offering words of congratulations, but her face showed a thoughtful expression.
"Elder Xia, it's been a long time. How have you been?"
As Lingyan slowly emerged from the cave, her aura became increasingly restrained and composed, causing Xia Xiange to furrow his brows even more.
"Ten years is not a long time. Young Master, you have truly impressed me."
"It's only been ten years... So why is Elder Xia calling me like this today?"
In the cultivation world, a period of seclusion can easily last for a hundred years, but it is only a blink of an eye. For Xia Xiange to forcibly wake her from her meditation, something serious must have happened.
"Young Master is so intelligent, why don't you try to guess?"
It's unclear what suddenly went wrong with Xia Xiange; she insisted on keeping such an urgent matter a secret.
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Author's Note:
Please give me flowers! Please leave a comment!
//Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2021-11-12 23:58:11 and 2021-11-13 23:51:49!
Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: Zhiyun (2 bottles);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 85 Astrologers and Defiant Ones (Part Fourteen)
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"Elder Xia is certainly in high spirits..."
Lingyan finally couldn't help but complain in her heart and made a sarcastic remark.
"After all, the romantic tales between you and your disciple who disappeared ten years ago are still being told by word of mouth among the various immortal sects, making it hard not to be interested."
Xia Xiange's tone was entirely mocking, as if he were watching a play.
Upon hearing this, Lingyan was taken aback. Xia Xiange's words seemed to have a hidden meaning, as if she had received news of Gu Zhong.
After their parting at the Heavenly Thunder Realm that day, Gu Zhong truly vanished without a trace. Even the jade talisman Ling Yan gave her could no longer find any trace of her. This little guy has indeed made a lot of progress.
Before anyone knew when, rumors about a secret affair between Lingyan and Gu Zhong spread throughout the cultivation world. Their love and hate from past and present lives were enough to make a storybook that would surely be a bestseller.
Without much thought, it's clear that this was the work of the Shangyin Sect.
Killing a member of the sect in front of Qingzhu and the others, how could the Shangyin Sect swallow this insult? Even though Lingyan later made ample compensation, it did not prevent them from retaliating with some insignificant revenge.
—For example, things that damage one's reputation.
Such gossipy behavior must have been partly orchestrated by Yun Yao.
Because of her chaotic state of mind, Lingyan chose to go into seclusion after returning to the Star Luo Sect. She shut herself off from all the disturbances in the outside world and pretended not to know anything about them.
The sudden arrival of Xia Xiange with news of Gu Zhong caught her off guard.
"Hearing Elder Xia's words, is it because you have news of my disciple?"
She suppressed her eagerness, using all her strength to calm the turbulent lake of her heart, not letting a single emotion leak out.
"Recently, the demon race has been making trouble, and the north is in turmoil. Some of my disciples have been ordered to go and provide support."
During a chaotic battle, when the situation seemed dire, a female cultivator descended from the sky and annihilated a fully-formed demon with a flick of her wrist.
Based on the disciple's description, that person is undoubtedly Gu Zhong. Her cultivation level is truly not to be underestimated now…”
Xia Xiange didn't continue to play dumb, and spoke directly.
"She can instantly kill a fully-formed demon? She is indeed a completely different person now."
Hearing others praise how capable Gu Zhong is now, Ling Yan felt secretly pleased, but she couldn't help but worry.
"Elder Xia, you didn't come here today just to kindly tell me this, did you?"
Xia Xiange's every word and action was not without purpose, and Ling Yan absolutely did not believe it could be that simple.
"I just mentioned the north. Does the young sect leader know what happened there?"
The message conveyed in those words gave Lingyan a vague sense of unease.
"A demon at the Integration Realm has appeared. What unusual activity is the demon race making?"
After a moment's thought, Lingyan suddenly realized the incongruity of the news she had just heard.